The future looks bright

19/04/2011

It's been a long time coming, with some missteps along the way, but the computer in your pocket is slowly becoming a reality. Modern smartphones pack as much processing power as a netbook, and soon - if manufacturers Samsung have their way - they'll be as powerful as a full-blown computer.

Samsung have just introduced the dual-core Galaxy S II, which includes two 1GHz processors. That sort-of means it has a total speed of 2GHz, more than many netbooks, though our nerdiest friends tell us dual core doesn't really work that way.

Well, they're not stopping there. The traditional view of processing power, Moore's Law, predicts that it'll double every 18 months, but Samsung plans to jump the queue: they're promising to introduce a dual-core 2GHz phone - with total pixel-shifting power of 4GHz - by the arrival of 2012. Perhaps they'll call it 'The Olympic'? [That's actually not a bad idea - ed.]

The worry, of course, is battery life. Modern smartphone handsets struggle to last a day of intense use as it is. Add in even more powerful processors, brighter, higher-res screens and new-fangled 4G data connections, and you're looking at an uphill struggle to keep the lights on all day. But we doubt Samsung would make such a brazen promise if they weren't confident of keeping it... over to you, rivals, to respond.